Capcom’s decision to port all of the more recent Resident Evil remakes to the Nintendo Switch 2 system was something no one was shocked to find out. It was but a matter of time. And with that, Capcom had finally given me the additional push needed for me to finally play the one REmake I hadn’t played in the past: Resident Evil 3. Usually named the less impressive of the trio comprised of 2, 3 and 4, is it really the ugly duckling of the bunch? Furthermore, is it, or is it not, worth the reduced pricetag Capcom is asking for it?

Jill is done with all this crap.

Common complaints regarding this particular remake were the small runtime (about five to six hours, as short as the original game) and the fact Nemesis, the big hunk of zombie meat chasing after you throughout the entire game, feels more like a nuisance than a monster you fear encountering. I agree with the latter; I don’t think Nemesis has been well-implemented in this game. He’s not an enemy chasing after you at any given moment like Mr. X in Resident Evil 2‘s remake. Instead, he’s more of a set piece protagonist. You just need to either run away from him during specific sections, or partake in some boss battles whenever the game feels like it.

Nothing a grenade launcher can’t solve.

That doesn’t make the end product bad in any way. It’s still a fun survival horror, with a pretty interesting first section, which is quite open-ended and full of optional explorable sections. The plot is quite good (well, for Resident Evil standards), Jill Valentine is an excellent protagonist, and the gameplay is as good as any other Resident Evil remake. There’s not a lot to complain about the actual game itself that hasn’t been mentioned before; and to be really honest, even the reduced runtime is mitigated by the fact Capcom isn’t charging the same amount of money for it when compared to other Resident Evil remakes on Switch 2.

Oh Jill, you should know by now that the dude is more obnoxious than a telemarketing salesperson.

I wasn’t expecting for Resident Evil 3 to run poorly on the Switch 2; even though a handful of recent ports have been somewhat underwhelming (check out our Shadow of Mordor review for further details), I wasn’t worried about an RE Engine game port at all. If Resident Evil Requiem managed to run incredibly well on Switch 2, so would a game originally developed with the hardware limitations of the PS4 and Xbox One in mind. There are one or two setbacks here and there, namely in the level of detail of faraway objects and enemy animations, but that’s not a big issue, especially on portable mode. Resident Evil 3 runs at a locked 60fps, features fast loading times, and looks the part. It’s as well-crafted as any other recent Capcom outing.

Carlos’ sections are more action oriented.

The fact Resident Evil 3 is considered to be the weakest of the recent Resident Evil remakes showcases how high Capcom set the bar for their titles. This is still, by and large, a pretty fantastic survival horror action hybrid, just marred by an annoying recurring boss and a short runtime. It looks and runs well enough on Switch 2, and its reduced pricetag basically makes up for the aforementioned reduced amount of content when compared to other Resident Evil titles. In short, it’s still a damn good title. If you haven’t played it yet, playing it for the first time on the Switch 2 is an easy recommendation.

Resident Evil 3 is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Switch 2.